We did a mixdown in Reaper and took the resulting file to WL13 for playback and further processing. The playback in Reaper sounds fine. We also did a playback in Sound Forge and Adobe Audition. No problems. When we put the file into WL13 (44.1kHz 24 bit) it sounded slightly distorted and the high end seemed to be somewhat muffled. Any ideas as to what is happening??? We are running Windows 10 Pro and using an RME sound card. There were no plugins being used. Any thoughts would be appreciated. The file was of a folk singer who plays a 6 string guitar and a harmonica. Thanks in advance!!!
There is no “sound” of WaveLab. We are in the digital world.
WaveLab does not change the sound at all unless you use plugins or adjust gain in some way.
You can render your file and compare it to the original one, to know if some process is taking place (though, of course, this does not take into account the possible plugins of the playback section of the Master Section).
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Thanks for the reply. We did not do any gain changes and there is no processing taking place and we do not have any plugins in the monitoring section. I understand what you are saying but why do the other three DAWs not have the same “sound” problems? We are using the same sound card and monitoring through our Avocet monitor controller. There is something that is adding a “fuzz” to the sound we are hearing in WL that we are NOT hearing on the other three DAWs. Any suggestions of what to check would be most welcomed. Thanks again for your reply…
The only thing I can say is that you should check your system and WaveLab settings.
Before any version of WaveLab is released, there are automated null test checks to verify that no extra processing is added to the audio samples being read. Therefore, I am fully confident that the problem is not on the WaveLab side (“bad WaveLab sound”).
Not to mention that WaveLab 13 was released two months ago to thousands of professional mastering engineers with trained ears, and there has been no such report so far.
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Check ALL your audio settings in the entire pipeline and make 100% sure they are consistent across apps, there are a lot of places this can get routed in a subtly different way if you don’t pay attention to the details… check what device/output/channel/routing/playback section/TotalMix settings, all driver settings, etc.… I use RME too, I can confirm there are NO differences whatsoever in WL. WL does NOTHING to the audio unless you are processing it somehow somewhere, or routing it through something that is doing processing, and double check TotalMix too if you have it routed differently there too, or have processing or strange routing inside TotalMix. Also make sure you are using ASIO in all other DAWs too. In other words, there are a lot places where a simple or subtle setting difference might have an impact that you describe. Otherwise there is NO difference and the audio will null out.
Thanks for posting this. I downloaded the latest driver and firmware for our sound card from RME. I checked everything except “total mix” which I will do now. Something is still not 100%. . I never had this problem until WL13 so??? I will keep checking. All the other DAWs we use sound fine it is only WL that seems to be adding some “grit”.
You’ll find the culprit. It’s in there somewhere, in some place you’ve missed. I’ve done that before with various apps/DAWs over the years, drives me crazy when I can’t find it quickly. Check everything with a fine tooth comb in TotalMix too, all routing, settings, sample rate settings, processing, etc… make sure ASIO is being used (as opposed to some other driver model too like WDM!) and set up the same in all apps too. Triple check playback section in WL, etc., etc., etc., etc. You’ll get it. WL + RME are a perfect combo. Good luck.
So I went to install the new update 13.0.10 and it would not install. So I installed it again and then checked the “sound” and it was fine. Must have been a “bit” out of order. Any way they all sound fine now.
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Glad you got it sorted out! Man I hate when weird stuff like that happens! Cheers!
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Glad you fixed it. I have had the same problem once. It turned out to be the volum knob in the Speaker Config section at the bottom of Master section that was turned up. If the other parts of the master section is expanded, you may not se this knob at all unless you scroll down in the Master section, which makes it hard to track down.
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Try this with Null test…
regards S-EH
Thanks for all the help and suggestions. We did a full 3 hour listening session with a client in attendance and everything was “perfect”. Again just a reminder - “NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON DIGITAL”
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